


How To Not Fall In Love

by soniaoutloud



Category: Hindu Religions & Lore, Ramayana - Valmiki
Genre: Gen, Hindu Character, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25666675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soniaoutloud/pseuds/soniaoutloud
Summary: — in which, buisness rivals the Rajawats and the Suryavanshis come across each other against an awkward backdrop, and realize there are many ways of falling in love.
Relationships: Lakshmana/Urmila (Ramayana), Rama & Lakshman (Ramayana), Rama/Sita (Ramayana)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16
Collections: Hindu Mythology Event





	How To Not Fall In Love

"No," _Siya_ tried to keep her tone as monotonous and bored as she could while _Urmila_ , her younger sister, imitated their father right across from her.

She shook with silent laughter as she watched her sister scratching an imaginary beard with a thoughtful expression on her face; Siya could picture her father doing this at the moment, as they talked.

"One of us must go through this deal with these _Suryavanshi_ people, you know that Siya," her father, _Janak Rajawat_ , said.

"Yes, but why must it be me?" Siya countered.

Across the table, Urmila made a show of sighing just in time as Siya heard their father sigh into the phone call. _The way Urmila could just sense things was incredible and peculiar at the same time_ , she thought to herself.

"Because you do not hate them," her father said as if it was a matter of fact.

 _That isn't true_ ; Siya wanted to retort, but that wouldn't have been the whole truth either. Sure, she had a natural disdain towards their business rivals but her father. . . well, to say that he despised _the Suryavanshis_ would have been the understatement of the decade.

"And then there is the fact that _Dasharath Suryavanshi's_ face triggers my hypertension," her father muttered in a low, begrudging tone. "Do I need to remind you what happened the last time we tried to make this deal with them?" 

Siya nearly choked on her spit as she remembered that horrid incident — last time, _the two childhood best friends turned business rivals, Janak Rajawat and Dasharath Suryavanshi had tried to sit down in a civil manner to make a deal work, the room had nearly ended up in cinder._

She had only witnessed the last two minutes of it; when Dasharath Suryavanshi was threatening to get a restraining order against her father as he left the office, while her father kept shouting how he would get a restraining order against him first — when she had recited the incident to Urmila, she had laughed until the orange juice she had been drinking came out of her nose; _it was gross._

Siya huffed out a breath of exasperation as she looked at her sister now; there was nothing but feline amusement on Urmila's beautiful face as Siya took her credit card out and slid it towards her. "Fine," she ground out the word to her father, giving in to his plea.

Her father let out a breath of relief while Urmila gave her a smug look, picking up the credit card as if she had won some trophy and not just a stupid bet they had. 

Siya made a funny face at her sister's giddiness as she brushed away her father's _thank yous_ politely and told him to take care, before hanging up the phone.

She had barely put her phone down when it vibrated with a message. . . then another. . . and another. . . _and another._ She didn't even have to open them to know where they were from; the delighted smile on Urmila's face was answer enough.

"Are you done rendering me absolutely broke?" She asked her sister, as her phone pinged in her hands once more — _seriously, how many things Urmila was even buying?_

Urmila shook her head, smile never dimming a single watt. "I am getting myself a celebratory brownie with this; today's cheat meal is sponsored by you, di."

Siya quirked a brow at her. "Didn't you just have a home-pack of _Cheetos_ an hour ago and called it your cheat meal?"

Urmila dangled the credit card in front of Siya's face, "I am guessing, you don't want this back." 

Siya narrowed her eyes at her sister before she made a snatch for the card but of course, Urmila was faster than that, she pulled the card just out of her reach — _times like these reminded Siya exactly how short her arms were; or, to be more precise, how short she was_. 

"All right," Siya muttered, dropping her hand back "-but get me their best cold coffee; I need some caffeine."

Urmila's lips quirked up in a half smile. "Will do," she said with a wink, before she slid out of their booth.

Siya shook her head and smiled at her sister's retreating back before she looked out of the window. She watched the cars zoom past, people bustling in and out of the skyscraper office building right in front of the cafe.

 _This Suryavanshi business deal_ , she thought and exhaled audibly. It had been in the making for years now, and if her father and Dashrath Suryavanshi weren't so stubborn, they might have been able to forge it a decade ago. _But no_. 

Janak Rajawat and Dashrath Suryavanshi were going to hold onto their fragile pride and leave all of their problems for the next generation to deal with.

_The next generation_ , Siya groaned to herself.

_Raghav Suryavanshi_ , the eldest son of Dashrath Suryavanshi, was dubbed to be a prodigy from almost the very first time he entered a meeting room. "Born for business; a new tycoon ready to take on the Indian technology industry."

 _Sure_ , it was Siya who had been helping her father in running their very successful business house since her teen years, and of course it were her new ideas and her deals which made their empire reach new heights and bring major changes in the technology sector. Hell, Raghav's first article was featured in _the Times_ while he was pursuing his doctorate, and Siya's first article was published under the _speaking tree_ section when was in eleventh standard.

But it was still _Raghav Freakin' Suryavanshi_ who was the "real deal" according to the Economic Times.

She let out a long sigh, trying to let her frustration go with that one, prolonged breath as well.

It wasn't like she hated Raghav; she didn't even know the man — she had never even seen him to begin with; _for some ridiculous reason,_ she totally did not like to think about, _she always skipped past his photographs._

But there was this little _something_ she felt inside her; a low searing in her gut, everytime she heard someone talking about him. . . _it made her blood pound harder, her pulse drum faster._

And that was why she had been _dreading_ to attend this stupid meeting. Because if Dashrath Suryavanshi had pulled off the same card as her father did. . . she absolutely didn't have the time _or_ the energy to unpack all of these feelings, right before the—

"How dare you," the words, spoken slowly and yet with so much edge to them, pierced right through the bubble of Siya's thought. 

She knew that voice, and that dangerous low tone of it; she had spent twenty one years of her life listening to it. 

" _Urmila_ ," Siya gritted her sister's name as shuffled out of her booth as fast as humanly possible. She sprinted in the direction of the voice, towards main the counter, barely registering the beautiful wooden interior of the cafe or the whiff of caffeine and chocolate in the air — all she was aware of was the rising temper in her sister's tone and the commotion in front of the counter.

The place was like a hornet’s nest, one which had smacked with a hockey stick by some idiot eight-year-old child, or _by an idiot twenty one years old who didn't have a filter on her mouth!_

_Dear God, did she end up in quarrel with one of the waiters?_ It wouldn't be the first time _. Did they call the staff on her!_

Siya had to elbow a few people in the sides and squeeze between some to get to the front; and there, in the center of it all, stood Urmila, a long glass of cold coffee in her hand as she argued with a man. The first thing Siya noticed — _aside from the shattered coffee mug on the floor and a huge coffee stain at the middle of Urmila's red shirt_ — was the man's seething gaze, as if his eyes had been molded out of fire and gold itself; his mouth was upturned into an expression of arrogance which blatantly matched her sister's.

"You know what Lakshman, you're right," Urmila said to him, her lips parting in to a dazzling smile.

The man, _Lakshman_ , let out a bitter laugh at that as if to say ' _of course I was right, you're dumb if it took you this long to realize that._ ' But Siya knew that smile all too well, it was the first spark of trouble. 

_You should stop Urmila,_ a part of her urged. . . but there was something about that entire exchange happening between them that made Siya want to see it through.

"This was all my fault; I shouldn't have _startled_ you by turning too fast while you were standing _right behind me_ with a latte in your hand." The sarcasm was basically oozing off her tone as she spoke, her lips stretched in a tight smile. "But you underestimate how very many mistakes I am willing to make, starting with _this_ ," she said before she threw the cold coffee on his face.

" _Urmila!_ " The entire crowd let out a collective gasp; so much so that it actually took Siya a few seconds to realize that she had called out her sister's name.

Her sister only tossed the mass of her hair over her shoulder as she faced her, a roguish grin on her beautiful face, which read _mission accomplished._ Siya shook her head at her in disapproval, even as walked to her side.

Lakshman, on the other hand, ran a broad hand down his face, sweeping away the coffee from his eyes before he turned to Urmila again and, _oh there was barely contained furry in his eyes_. "You—" he started.

"Lakshman," someone called out his name, cutting him off before he could even begin. 

Lakshman went very, _very_ still; his taut shoulders relaxing ever so slightly as he turned to look behind his shoulder. And Siya followed his line of sight, and there he was.

 _You_ , a part of her hummed as she looked at the man standing a few feet away from her, as he walked forward, his eyes wholly fixated up on her. His eyes; _dear God his eyes were like thunder cracking free in the sky_.

She felt something inside her opening up as their gazes locked — like something ancient was waking up inside her for the first time, a part of her coming alive at last and murmuring to him, _oh, I know you_.

"Bhaiya," Lakshman said to him, at the same as Siya felt Urmila jabbing her elbow into her side, spanning her out of the trance.

She felt her face heat, embarrassing in it's intensity, even as she turned to face her sister with a questioning look.

But before Urmila could have commented on whatever had just happened and gave Siya an existential crisis, Lakshman gestured towards her and blurted out, "she started it, Bhaiya." Siya couldn't help but notice how, _even while accusing someone_ , tender his voice became as Lakshman talked his brother.

Siya watched as her sister took a step forward, forgetting all about her before she shot back, "yuh huh, like you didn't accidentally spill your entire mug of coffee on my favorite shirt." How Urmila could zero-in on the argument and completely ignore the rest of the crowd, Siya didn't understand; _most of her energy went into trying to not look at Lakshman's brother again anyway._ "You were basically seething the minute you heard my name," Urmila muttered looking down her nose at Lakshman, as if he wasn't _at least_ eight inches taller than her.

Before Siya could make any sense of what Urmila was saying Lakshman spoke again, his face, _in all of it coffee drenched glory,_ twisting in distaste. "Not everyone is as petty as—"

"Stop," one word, a single syllable; that was all it took for his brother to silence Lakshman.

Her gaze flickered to him again; he was tall, taller than his brother, his dusky skin gleaming in the light filtering in through the huge windows, and the curls of his hair were just on the right side of unruly. _The man was gorgeous_ ; so much so that everything around him seemed a little bleak in comparison to him. "You apologize to her right this second, Lakshman."

Lakshman looked at his brother like he had driven a knife to his chest; either that or Siya was imagining the deep frown between his brows as he blinked back rapidly. "But-"

" _Now_ ," his brother's voice, though soft and calm, left no room for argument.

Lakshman took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair, some of the coffee droplets shaking out of them, with the movement; the arch of his neck and, the front of his shirt were too covered with a sheen layer of the liquid. A minute of silence passed, then another. . . "I am sorry, Urmila _Rajawat_ ," he spat the words out, like their last name was a bad tasting morsel in his mouth. 

Siya raised her brows at his tone but the wicked amusement practically radiating off her sister was too distracting; it was basically tangible by the way she pushed her hair off her shoulder in vindictiveness. "You too," Siya said turning to her; because Lakshman might have started it but Urmila had played along too. . . and throwing coffee on someone's face, " _apologize_."

"What?" Urmila turned to her with an expression of disbelief so deeply etched into her face, that Siya might have started laughing if the situation wasn't so messy. "Why would I even? You don't know—"

"Do you want me to call Ma?" Siya whispered to her before Urmila had the chance to launch into a monologue about _how she was always right;_ and that effectively shut Urmila up.

_God knew if their mother even so much as heard the wind of this incident, Urmila was as good as grounded for the rest of her life._

Urmila shook her head, her exasperation palpable as she said, "ugh, fine." She turned to look at Lakshman, and her nostrils slightly flaring with anger at the sight of the small grin up on his lips. She gave Siya a sidelong look of annoyance before she folded her arms over her chest and bit out to him, " _I am sorry, that I let you get the better of me—_ "

"That's enough, Urmila" Siya said, cutting her sister off mid-sentence; Lakshman already looked on the verge of flinging an insult back at her but kept himself in check. From the periphery of her vision though, Siya could have sworn that she saw a hint of a smile on his brother's face — her heart ricocheted in an uneven beat even as she forced some more words out. "Don't you both want to go to the washroom."

Urmila looked down at her red shirt, the big brown stain at the center of it, and scrunched her nose up. "Yeah, I'll be back in a few minutes," she muttered under a breath, before she gave Lakshman a look so pointed, she could have murdered him with it. Lakshman, to his credit, glared back at her with equal ferocity, before both of them went in opposite directions.

Siya felt the urge to massage her temples, as she stepped away from the mess, giving the staff the space for cleaning. God, she felt tired, and now she had to attend a meeting with her family's nemesis— " _Siya Rajawat_ ," she heard Lakshman's brother call out her name and felt something deep between her lungs crack clean in two.

She turned to look at him then; facing him fully as he stood there, smiling at her; something about that easy smile of his made her aware of her each breath. "You know my name?" She asked at last, and hoped he hadn't noticed how blatantly she had been staring at him earlier, _or just now_.

"Anyone in the technology industry would," he said with a shrug, as if it was a matter of fact. His eyes glinted with amusement, even though there was also something else in them; something Siya couldn't pinpoint but it elated her all the same. "I've read all of your interviews and articles; starting from the _speaking tree_ one."

Something inside her chest ceased for a split second as she looked at him. "You remember that?" the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop myself; she wasn't even sure if I even wanted to stop herself.

"Yes," he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. A few curls of his hair had fell into his eyes and she was thankful for their shadows; she didn't think she could risk looking into those magnificently dark and alive eyes of his as he breathed out, "of course, I remember."

_I remember you too_ , a little piece of her seemed to hum the words, _again and again_ — her throat felt thick with the weight of them.

"I am sorry to disturb," the person at the waiting desk said, startling both of them. Siya looked away from him, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat as the waiter went on. "Sir, your brother hasn't paid for the broken cup—"

"Oh, just bill it on me," he rushed to say as he pulled a credit card out of his pocket; Siya looked at him from underneath her lashes, and. . . either she was hallucinating or his face was beginning to stain with red. "I am so sorry for all the inconvenience," he added, looking more flustered by the minute; so much so, that Siya couldn't help a smile.

She wanted to tell him that it was alright on the waiter's behalf but the waiter only asked. "Your name, Sir?"

" _Raghav_ ," he answered, and whatever stupid smile was on Siya's face fell completely off as she faced him once again, her gut bottoming out this time.

She should have know; _the way Lakshman had spit out their last-name, the fact that Urmila tried to tell her, and above all, the voice inside her. . ._ yet, she still hoped.

" _Raghav Suryavanshi_ ," he added.

And Siya found herself wishing she had told her father that she hated the Suryavanshis, she found herself wishing that it were actually true, _because the alternative. . ._ the feeling that had taken root in her heart now, _it was worse._

Raghav Suryavanshi turned to her and smiled that soft, charming smile of his again. And despite everything, Siya felt her heart stutter.

_So much worse._


End file.
